Christmas Cheer and Cinnamon Spice
by astherainfell
Summary: Just some fun winter fluff between Dipper and Pacifica. Dipcifica. Plot will form, Stick around for a fun little game of "Where will Taelor's Muse lead them this time!" Ha. It's a joke about the the fact that this story is a little bit of adventure, little bit bad writing, and soon to be a ton of fluff. And right now, I have zero clue how this will end.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, sorry for waiting so long to getting around to publishing this! Naturally, this is just the beginning of what this story will become in the future. This is designed to be a little bit of fluffy dipcifica, though that doesn't mean there won't be plot. Please feel free to critique and review guys!**

It had been only a few months since the summer ended, but Dipper couldn't have been more excited to be coming back to Gravity Falls for Christmas. It had taken quite a bit of talking with his parents, and an incessant amount of excited cheers from Mabel afterwards, to get the Mystery Twins on a bus heading back to the Mystery Shack. On the seat next to him, Mabel had spread out, happily snoring. Dipper had, on the other hand, spent most of the trip writing in his new notebook. The bus was well on its path towards the epitome of weirdness.

The last few months at school had been, well, mundane. It was hard for Dipper to just going back to normal life after weirdmageddon. The adventure of the previous summer had left him craving for more.

The bus rolled to a stop outside of Gravity Falls, jolting Dipper out of his thoughts, and Mabel out of her nap. Waddles looked up at the two expectantly, and soon enough, the twins were disembarking to the now snow covered Mystery Shack. Stan and Ford had agreed to come home for the Holidays, so it was the the pair of Grunkles and Soos that greeted them from the porch.

Within moments of disembarking from the bus, Mabel ran towards them.

"Grunkle Stan! Ford! It's been so long!" She pounced onto Stan, giving him a large hug.

Stan smiled, "Yeah, it really has," he said, "I lost my free labor for three months!"

Dipper began walking over, giving Soos a fist bump. "It's good to see you man"

Soos grinned and chipped into the conversation, "What're you talkin' about Stan? You've been out at sea since they left!"

This brought laughter amongst the entire group, and Ford coughed lightly, claiming the group's attention.

"As much as I love seeing you two again, could we head inside? The climate change from tropics to winter has got my bones aching"

Stan laughed, "Gee, and I thought I was the older one!"

Soon enough, everyone was sitting together in the living room, cocoa in hand, though Dipper was pretty sure Stan's was "cocoa". It was comfortable, and felt like home for him. It appeared that someone had even picked up a tree, decorating it with different pieces of the attractions in the Mystery Shack. It looked like Ford had helped, based on the Edison Style bulbs hanging on it.

Mabel gasped: "Oh! I almost forgot! I have early christmas presents for each of you!"

She ran out of the room, the sound of her clomping up the stairs resonating throughout the house.

"So," started Ford, "anything.. Interesting happen in Piedmont?"

Dipper sighed, "No, not anything. Honestly, I really wish something would."

Ford smiled, "Well, that's too bad. But never forget, the weirdness can be found anywhere. Maybe not to the same concentration as here, or the bermuda Triangle for that matter.."

"You actually got around to going to the Bermuda Triangle?" Dipper asked.

Stan sighed, "almost died from that Serpent though.." he shot an accusing glare and Ford.

"Hey, it didn't look that large on the surface!" Ford quipped in reply.

"Well, what was it like?" asked Dipper. He took a sip of his cocoa

Ford leaned back into the chair, Stan cracked his neck and grumbled about stupid sea snakes. "Well, it at the end of August when I saw what appeared to be a lamp protruding from the ocean itself.."

Soon after, Mabel came into the living room once again to find Ford upon a chair, one leg standing on the back of it.

"So, using the the molecular destabilizer Fiddleford built into the Stan O' War II, we were able to scare it away the beast. I was only able to make a quick sketch of the creature, and hope to someday see that magnificent serpent once again." He sat back down in the chair, "Based on it's apparent body structure and elemental prowess, I wonder if the beast had any relation to the Chinese dragons of old.."

"Did I miss something?" Everyone's eyes landed on mabel, standing in the doorway with what appeared to be a mound of colored yarn in her Arms, "I was able to finally find them all!"

She walked around the room, handing what was now availible seen as sweaters to each person in the room. "Ta dah! Christmas sweaters!" She set off a small confetti popper.

Each sweater was emblazoned with a different symbol, Dipper's a classic pine tree on a white background, Ford's bearing his customary six fingered hand. Soos's though had the likeness of Stan's old fez.

"Hey, what're you tryin' to say kid?" Stan held up his, bearing the words 'grumpy grunkle' in a heinous yellow. The others all chuckled at that.

"It signifies the fact that even though you're grouchy, we still love you" Mabel poked his nose

"Ugh, all this sappy stuff is gonna make me have an allergic reaction" Stan punctuated his words with a sneeze, "Or maybe it's just all of this yarn"

Ford glanced at his. "Thank you Mabel, this is very suiting" He smiled

It was about this point when waddles walked into the room, wearing a red and green sweater, with candy canes on it. He snuffled it, trying to eat the fabric food off of the garment.

Dipper sighed contently. This is what he was missing. It wasn't just the wierdness of the world, he missed the weirdness of his pseudo family that he had come to care about so much. It was just.. Nice to be back.

His hands tightened around his mug, a hard look flashed across his features.

 _This is only for maybe two weeks.._

"Why the long face Dipdop?" Mabel gave him a weird look, adding the eighth candy cane to her brimming cup of cocoa.

He gave a reassuring smile. "Nothing, don't worry Mabel," he took another sip of his cocoa, "Just some stray thoughts caught up with me, you know.."

Ford gave dipper a sympathetic look.

The rest of their first day went by quickly, the twins unpacked into the attic, in all of its drafty, creaky glory. They enjoyed a dinner with their family in the Falls, in the process learning that Melody was going to be trying to come up to visit Soos for Christmas.

Mabel could barely contain her excitement.

"So you two are still going steady then?"

Soos smiled, "Yeah dawg, and I know I'm not supposed to say this, but she is bringing along a pet that should make some of you smile"

Dipper glanced up the notebook he had been doodling in.

"What kind of pet is it?" He asked.

Soos winked at the two of them. "You'll have to see for yourselves when she gets here"

 _Hm,_ Dipper thought, _For the first time in his life, Soos is actually keeping a secret_. _Wonder how long that'll last._

After a few episodes of Ducktective and chatting in the livingroom, the long day was finally catching up with Dipper.

He yawned and stretched his back.

"Well, I think I'm gonna head to bed, it really is good to be back.."

With a dismissing wave from Stan, Dipper trekked upstairs into the Attic, and laid down. He was tired, so tired in fact that he forgot to pull on his pajamas, and just crawled under the covers. As he was starting to doze off, his Cell buzzed.

"Shit" He muttered under his breath.

He had forgotten that he was supposed to text his mom when they had arrived. She was probably worried quite a bit about the two. He flipped open his phone to see the message from his mom.

" _Did you guys get there okay? No evil Doritos this time? :P"_ Read her message.

" _Ha ha, very funny. Yeah, sorry I forgot to call you"_

He slapped his forehead. When they had gotten back, Mabel had went on and on about their adventures. Luckily enough, his parents had just assumed it was them still playing imaginary games in the woods.

After only a few seconds, his phone lit up with a reply.

" _Don't worry about it, though try to remember in the future. You know that the main reason we got you and Mabel phones for your birthday was for better communication"_

" _Yeah, again, really sorry. Just lost track of time around Grunkle Stan. Hey, I was just about to go to bed, so I'll probably go now. Goodnight Mom xo"_

He waited for her reply in amiable silence. He liked to think he had a good relationship with his parents. They didn't worry too much about him, nor did they have the time. Between keeping Mabel in check and their Jobs, the Pines of Piedmont were a busy couple. Her reply came quick enough.

" _Alright, alright, geez. Just don't go shirking your responsibility young man! Sleep well, don't let the monsters bite xx"_

After reading her reply, he slipped his phone under his pillow, and dozed off.


	2. Chapter 2

**I must apologize if this story is erratic! I tend to just write as I go instead of planning everything out first. I already have a general concept of how I want this story to go, but things never go perfectly according to plan. Enjoy the second addition to this tale! :)**

It was to the sound of giggling that Dipper woke up to. He cracked his eyes, looking over at his sister sitting on her bed. She was watching him, her phone out. Dipper sighed

"What did you do?"

Mabel laughed more. "Nothinggg. Hey, we better head downstairs. I heard Ford is cooking! The Food may actually be edible today!" And with that, She ran downstairs.

It was true, the smell of cooking wafted up the stairs to Dipper, his stomach growling in reply. He got up, glanced down at his wrinkled wardrobe, and shrugged. He could change later. He quickly followed the delicious scents into the kitchen, to find Stan at the table, Paper in hand, with Ford at the stove. The sound of sizzling could be heard, the smell of bacon making Dipper's mouth water.

Stan glanced up from his paper, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline when he saw Dipper. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it again and buried his head back into his paper with a grumble about kids these days. Dipper rolled his eyes. If anyone was one to talk about looking neat, it wasn't Stan.

Dipper took his Seat across from Stan as Mabel entered with Soos. As she sat down, Mabel giggled all the more, while Soos on the other hand wouldn't meet Dipper's eyes.

"You alright Soos? I didn't do anything to offend you did I?"

Soos visibly gulped. "Nah, dawg, er- dawget? You do you man, don't worry, or whatever."

Dipper shifted in his seat, but grouped this reply into the normal Soos weirdness. It wasn't long until Ford came to the table, pan of bacon and eggs in one hand, plate loaded with toast on the other. There was a slight hesitation when he saw Dipper, but he gave no other reaction to what Dipper presumed was a rumpled, unbathed appearance.

"Well," said Ford, "Dig in everybody!"

The meal was pleasant, the food great. The best thing was the significant lack of hair in any of the dishes. Dipper had just taken a large bite of toast when Ford reached across the table, patting his arm.

"Dipper, I would just like to say that I am proud of the fact that you are comfortable to just be yourself around us."

Dipper quickly swallowed his mouthful. "Er, um, your welcome, I guess?" he mumbled in reply

After breakfast had ended, Dipper was tasked with washing the dishes. He grumbled a bit as he worked in the sudsy water, cleaning all of the plates. As he was working, he noticed lipstick stains on one of the glasses.

 _Was Mabel wearing lipstick this morning? Ugh, girls._

It didn't take too long to finish, but just as he was finishing up, Mabel walked in.

"Hey Dipdop! I was just told by Stan that you and I are working in Shop today!" She giggled.

"Wait- two questions: why is Stan the one giving the orders? And is he really making us work on our vacation?"

Mabel just patted his arm. "I guess you forgot Dipper, this is Stan we are talking about. Where there is money to be made,"

"Stan'll be there." finished Dipper. "Alright, give me a minute to go get washed up"

Dipper started for the stairs, only to be blocked by Mabel.

"No Dipper, " she flicked his nose, "You look fine, in fact, some would say it's an improvement! Ha. But Stan said he wanted us there now."

He squinted at the offending twin, before sighing, and changing course for the gift shop. What a great way to spend all of their time here. In the gift shop. Again. He couldn't help but be annoyed. I wasn't like the work was especially hard, or any of the sort, but Dipper was itching to get back in the woods. In the comfort of his own thoughts, Dipper almost missed Mabel's comment.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. Wendy stopped working at the shack, so Soos hired someone new"

Dipper smacked his forehead. "Agh, can this day get any worse?"

The pair walked into the musty gift shop. As usual, the place was chock full of cheap merchandise at ridiculous prices. The only new addition Dipper could see was with the bobbleheads, which now had a Soos variety alongside the Stans. Soos walked around the counter.

"Hey dudes, Stan said that it would be a good idea to have you two work in here for a while. My employee should be arriving soon, so try not to bite!" Soos was the only one to laugh at the joke. Under his breath, he whispered, "I have EMPLOYEES. You da boss Soos."

He went into the exhibit portion to get the shack ready, leaving Dipper and Mabel alone in the shop. Dipper's eyes traveled from the dusty floors to the disorganized merch.

"Well, I guess I'll grab a broom then."

He quickly got to work in sweeping the gift shop, and Mabel reorganized the merchandise so that it was a least partially acceptable. As Dipper emptied the dustpan, the bell above the door announced the arrival of somebody. His only sign of warning was the gasp from Mabel, but who walked in, wearing a heavy violet scarf and a pine tree cap, froze him with one hand extended over the rubbish bin.

Her eyes traveled from Mabel to Dipper, and as Dipper was about to give a terse hello, she laughed. And laughed. And laughed. His mood went from confused to annoyed.

"Okay Pacifica, what's this all about?"

It took a few minutes to calm herself to an understandable degree.

"This, well, he he, this is quite an interesting situation. I mean, if I was still as mean as I was, I'd have sooo much blackmail on you right now."

Dipper glared pointedly. "What do you mean?"

"Tell me Dipper, have you looked in a mirror lately?"

He blinked in confusion. His clothes had straightened for the most part. He glanced at Mabel, to see her laughing into her fist, tears leaking from her eyes in mirth.

Pacifica walked forward, reached into her bag and withdrew a make-up mirror. Dipper glanced into it, to meet the eyes of a classic primadonna, with red lipstick, heavy eyeshadow and mascara. He looked from his reflection, to Mabel, and back again.

"MABEL!" he shouted.

She took off running, with Dipper close on her heels leaving a blond on the floor rolling around on the floor in laughter. With a quick escape via grappling hook, Mabel was gone. Dipper angrily trudged to the restroom.

It was a half hour later that a now mostly makeup free Dipper reentered the gift shop. He was able to get everything but the mascara to come off, but he could deal with that later. He was surprised to see Pacifica behind the counter.

"What are you still doing here?" he asked tersely.

"Well hello to you too Dipstick." came her reply.

The two glared at each other lightly, a silence falling over the room. Soos walked in, the classic Fez planted firmly upon his head, wearing the sweater he was given proudly. His eyes lit up at the sight of Pacifica.

"Oh Pacifica! Glad you were able to make it!" he turned to Dipper. "Dude, this is my staff now that Wendy got a job with her Dad."

Dipper did a double take. "Wait, the great Pacifica Northwest is working as a cashier at the mystery shack?" His voice squeaked in incredulity.

"Yeah dude, she started like, at the start of the school year"

Pacifica cleared her throat. "'She' is right here! And I thought I was rude."

Both turned to her, Soos rubbed the back of his neck, an apologetic look crossing his face, "Sorry dawg, didn't mean it that way."

She sighed, "No, it's fine. Just, ugh."

The room was plunged into an awkward quiet.

Soos glanced between the two. "Well, um, lots of boss stuff to get done! Totally not me just making an excuse to avoid this awkward situation! Bye!" He bolted out the front door, only to reenter, shivering. "That is the wrong door!" came his passing comment as he went back into the exhibit area.

It was Pacifica who broke the silence, "So, um, you're back in town, eh?"

Dipper scratched the back of his head, "Y-yeah, for christmas break"

"Oh" came her reply

Dipper walked over to the counter, picking up a fallen snow globe, returning it to its home. His eyes landed on the pine tree cap atop her head, bringing about a train of thought.

"So," he swallowed, "You work at the Mystery Shack now?"

"Well, obviously." she sighed.

"Can I ask why?"

"You can." at his glare, she continued, "Well, you remember how with the whole wierdmageddon thing, we lost a lot of our funds? Yeah, well, that made me lose almost all of my allowance, so I had to get a job so I can make some money. I mean, you don't look this good for free."

He eyed the cap once again. "So then the cap is, like, your uniform while working here? I didn't think Soos would require you to wear a dress code."

She blinked for a second, before taking the cap off her head, stuffing it into her bag. "No, it's not a dress code Dipstick! Just because you spoiled the look of something doesn't mean I can't try to fix it. And, trucker hats are in fashion right now. Ugh!"

Her shift from terse but polite to a level of animosity was sudden, catching Dipper off guard. "S-Sorry, geez.." came his reply, "I didn't mean any offense. I mean, obviously I don't mind the hat or anything. How could I? I used to wear it all the time."

She inhaled deeply, and Dipper cringed, prepared for some further onslaught.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap.."

Dipper couldn't have been more surprised. Pacifica Northwest, apologizing. Now that was probably a first. He smiled. With warmth in his voice, he said, "Geez, I didn't know you could apologize Pacifica. You really have changed."

She huffed at his reply, not meeting his eyes. "I really was a jerk, huh?" She spoke in a small voice.

Dipper reached out, poking her forehead. "Hey," he said, "Everyone was a jerk once in their lives, eh?"

She looked up, blue eyes meeting brown. A flush caught Dippers features when he realized the in the course of the conversation, they had gotten progressively closer, now to the point of a mere handful of inches separating the two. "You think so?" came her quiet reply. Dipper licked his lips nervously.

The flash of a camera brought both their heads turning to what appeared to be a human clad in a ghillie suit made entirely of Mystery Shack merchandise.

"SCRAPBOOKORTUNITY!" shouted the know well known figure

"MABEL!" Cried the two teens angrily as she once again fled the scene of her social crimes at an almost inhuman rate. Pacifica turned back to Dipper, anger etched in her features.

"How does she so darn fast?!"

Dipper shrugged. "It's Mabel, is another reply even necessary?"

He looked around the shop wearily. The pair fell into amiable silence. Dipper grabbed out his notebook, doodling a little. It was quiet few minutes, his thoughts straying back to their conversation. She really had changed, hadn't she? From the meeting at the party that felt like years ago now. To who was currently restocking some of the shelves, he wouldn't have recognized her. He looked down at the notebook in his hands, a rendition of said girl left in gentle graphite strokes.

"Watcha drawing?"

Pacifica's question knocked him out of any stupor, and he quickly flipped the page. "N-nothing!" he blurted quickly, "Just, uh, drawing um," His eyes scanned his surroundings, landing on the frigid snow outside, "Winter?"

She look on , curiously.

"Can I see?"

"N-no! I mean, um, maybe when I'm done with it?" He palms were slick with sweat.

She squinted at him, a critical eye bearing into his soul. After a tense few moments, she said, "Fine"

He visibly relaxed, glad the whole ordeal was finally over. He closed the notebook, a comfortable silence falling over the room. From doorway, heavy footfalls could be heard, followed by the jingle of the bell.

"Dipper!" Came Stan's growling shout, "Go shovel the property! It's too cold for me to do!"

"I didn't even bring along a jacket!"

Stan growled, "Well, be quick then!" and he trudged off deeper into the Shack.

"Ugh! He is impossible!" Dipper rubbed his temples. "Sorry pacifica, I gotta go take care of that I guess.. At least I have that sweater Mabel made.."

"Yeah.."

Dipper trudged up into his bedroom, grabbing the sweater and slipping it on.

 _At least I probably won't die bundled up in this.._

He walked back downstairs, and had just reached the giftshop door, shovel in hand when Pacifica called out to him.

"Dipper! Wait!" She walked around the counter, purple scarf held in one hand. "You can use this, don't want you dying, or anything.."

"Um, thanks, I guess.." He took it from her, wrapping it around his neck.

She shifted her feet, and with a moment's hesitation, gave him a bone crushing hug.

"It's good to have you back Dipper."

He was so shocked at the sudden affection from the prickly girl that he barely noticed when she shoved him outside. He couldn't help but smile, pulling the scarf tighter around his face. All of a sudden, the air didn't seem so cold, and he went about shoveling the ridiculously long driveway with a swing in his step, humming a tune to himself. It seemed he finished in record time, walking back inside. His hands were cold but he felt surprisingly good, a smile creeping back onto his features as he brushed the snow off his sweater and pants.

His mood faltered when he walked into an empty gift shop, the lights out.

He sighed, putting the shovel back in the closet, and walked into the living room. It was only then that he noticed the time: 6:18. Of course it was 6:18. She'd already taken off.

 _Why do I even care?_

He sat down on the sofa, closed his eyes, and for the first time since exiting the shack hours ago, he felt cold. Someone in front of him coughed, he opened his eyes. In front of him, Pacifica stood wearing a heavy wool jacket, the pine tree hat atop her head.

"Glad I was able to catch you before I left. You uh, forgot something on the counter." She reached into her bag, setting his notebook onto the couch edge.

"Did you, y'know, look through it?" He eyed the offending book, not meeting her eyes.

Silence followed his question, he didn't know what to expect from her seeing it, but he couldn't handle no answer. He looked up.

For the first time in his life, Pacifica looked flustered. "You, um, You're a really good artist Dipstick."

A pin could have been heard. _Did I hear that right..?_ Before he had a chance to reply, a car horn blared outside and Pacifica was out the door like she was being chased by satan himself.

He picked up his notebook, flipping to his last page. There was the picture he had drawn, of the girl who had ran outside. He was preparing to rip out the page when he noticed a small note written neatly in the corner.

'Here's my cell, if you ever want to hang out or something -Paz'

In one day, went from terse to friends with Pacifica Northwest. He nestled into the scarf still surrounding his neck, breathing in the scent.

 _Could this day get any better?_

 **Hey guys, I just wanted to apologize if there are grammatical errors, I didn't proof read this chapter besides for a rough one, so please tell me if you spot any errors! Really glad you guys are enjoying this, I'll try to update often! As always, reviews and criticism are welcome**


	3. Chapter 3

**To all of the people in the U.S. reading this at publish date, a very early good morning to you! I cannot believe that my story has already gotten over 700 views and 18 followers! Thanks a ton guys! Well, Even with all the emails sent to him, Alex Hirsch seems quite adamant of maintaining his ownership of Gravity Falls. I guess I'll just have to deal with not owning the show for now. So yeah, I don't own Gravity Falls, any characters, or Alex Hirsch. I'll try to keep this tale going for you all! Again, any notes of grammatical errors, critique, or even just holes in my logic, if you see em, tell me in a PM or review please ^~^ This chapter doesn't contain much fluff, more of a little adventure if anything! Hope you all enjoy! - Taelor**

 _Could this day get any worse?_ Those were the only words able to course through DIpper's head as he ran as quick as he could from the growling form behind him. Now soaked from head to toe and freezing, Dipper couldn't help but think back. It had all been going well that day, with getting to know pacifica, but somehow in the course of a couple hours, everything had turned to the same ol' psycho crap that Gravity Falls was famous for. His legs roared in pain, but he kept running, short, panicked breaths escaping his mouth.

 _How does it always end up like this?_

Flashback

It had all started about an hour after pacifica had left, he had been sitting in the livingroom, writing about his day, when the sound of breaking glass filled the house, punctuated by a loud crack.

Dipper stood, his senses alert, armed in one hand a notebook, the other pen.

 _They always did say the pen is mightier than the sword, I sure hope they're right.._

He moved closer, towards the kitchen. He peeked around the corner.

Glass was sprayed all over the floor, a cold blast of air from the now broken window causing it to tinkle, and glint in a pale blue light that filled the room. The entire room seemed to radiate that unnatural light, he walked forward. It was unmistakable, the temperature seemed to drop twenty degrees just by crossing the threshold.

His breath misted before his face, his hands were shaking, growing clammy.

"If anyone is in here, I should warn you I am armed!"

He stepped forward again, the light seemed to emanate the floor, where a hole could be seen through the boards. He leaned down, trying to make out the small glowing object. Dipper breathed deeply, steeling his nerves.

Setting down his pen, he reached down into the crater, his hands meeting an icy smooth object, no bigger than a plum.

 _Plum? That's the best descriptive word I could think of? Ugh._

He closed his hand around it, withdrawing the now apparent stone. The minute he lifted it up, the light dimmed into nonexistence, only a faint glow still emanating from carvings on the small rock.

It surface reminded him of granite, but he couldn't place the markings covering every surface of the stone. He turned it over in his hand.

 _Symmetrical,_ he commented to himself, _very cold. The light was close in hue to Bill's flame. I wonder if there is a relation.._

Lost in thought, Dipper didn't hear someone enter the kitchen behind him.

"Hey Dipper," Growled stan, "what was all th- WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY KITCHEN?!"

Dipper jumped wildly, almost dropping the stone.

"I didn't do it! I think someone threw a stone through the window"

Stan cracked his knuckles. "When I find the punk who's gone off and hurt the 'shack, Oh, I'll show him exactly why Suarez didn't dare cross me in Cuba."

Dipper slipped the notebook and stone into his pants pocket.

"Yeah, it's just strange though," He commented, looking at the damage, "Why would somebody even do something like this?" He shivered

"Because," Stan grumbled, "people are asshole, that's why"

Dipper gasped at Stan's cursing in mock shock.

"Oh, you're thirteen now Dipper!" Stan said, "You are over the age of my rule."

"Of your rule, yes Stan," replied Ford, walking into the frigid room, "But not by mine. So do me a favor and watch your mouth!"

He hit Stan upside the head, his eyes darting around the kitchen.

"So what's the damage from? Gnomes, Giants, Manotaurs?"

Dipper shuffled his feet. "Nah, just some teenager"

Ford sighed dramatically, "Oh," he said, quickly leaving the room.

It was at that point when Dipper finally noticed Ford's new winter attire. Ford already looked bundled up in Summer, but now the man appeared to be wearing a heavier turtleneck, along with a scarf, all underneath a trenchcoat parka.

He rolled his eyes, following Ford's exit of the kitchen. How that man wasn't dying of heatstroke was a mystery to behold inet of itself. He quickly made his way upstairs, before Stan had the chance to call him back to clean up the kitchen.

It was for some time that Dipper lay on his bed, a sketch of the rock he was now calling the Frost Stone. As he lay there, rolling the cool, pale stone between his fingers, he realized exactly what this was. It was the first official mystery entry in his book. Obviously there was something up with the stone, normal rocks weren't engraved in runic markings in a language he could find no data on, nor did they normally glow a pale blue. And most rocks definitely weren't perpetually endothermic. He had already run some tests. It appeared that the effects of the item were reduced with human contact. If left unattended, it tended to lower the average temperature, and the light from it became brighter. Also, he noticed that if placed in a glass of water, it took merely seconds to freeze the entire glass.

His brow furrowed. He knew what he had to do if he wanted to learn more about the origin. He doubted just some teen threw this artifact into his room. He sighed, grabbing a grey beanie and the scarf Pacifica had given him. It was time to reenter the woods.

It was only a few steps outside when Dipper realized how much he missed the warmth of Piedmont winters. He breath seemed to freeze in the air, and the Frost Stone in his left pocket didn't do much to warm him. He pulled the scarf tighter around him headed into the woods, determination visible in his eyes. The wind was harsh, biting at his exposed nose and cheeks as he trudged through the snow.

 _Definitely more enjoyable in the Summer, no doubt._

He'd already checked the recovered journals, but no information was on the stone. The only thing he found was a dusty entry in the second, talking about an area in the winter in which it was stated to be a region of 'forever winter'. From the effects of the stone, that would be the area most likely of origin. His trek was long and quiet. It was times like these that he wished Mabel was with him. From what he had heard in the Shack, she was off reuniting with her friends, having a sleepover at Candy's. He sighed, his breath making clouds in the air.

 _It really just isn't the same without somebody at your side, huh?_ He asked himself.

He pulled out the map he had made, checking the distance.

"Almost there," He breathed, "just about another quarter mile"

It was as he crested the next hill that he saw it. The ground changed from a natural snowy terrain into a large circular valley, with trees covered in a crystalline ice. Everything seemed to be bathed in the radiant blue light, similar to the stone in his pocket. The quick description in the second journal could not begin to explain the beauty of the area. He entered in quietly, his feet leaving tracks in the perfect powder surface.

Dipper was amazed at the place, it seemed as though everything was covered in the beauty of winter. It was an incredible sight to behold.

 _If all of winter looked like this, I may actually enjoy it.._

It then that he noticed something more odd than the beautiful crystal forest, more than the frigid air, more than the blue light. When he entered the area, it was filled by a great quiet. It was as though the entire world was holding its breath in trepidation. Even the wind seemed to pause, waiting for.. Something.

He walked forward, the only sound heard the crunch of his shoes and the rustle of his clothes. That was when he noticed it. Along the trees, the stones, everything. Runes. Thousands upon thousands of runic carvings. All interconnected, like a circuit or something. The lines of sigils and markings became denser the farther he went into it. At the edge of the 100 metre area, only a few large, pale runes covered the surfaces. But now, as he almost reached the center, every surface was dense with the pulsing marks.

It was here, that he surveyed the source. A diminutive frozen pond, no more than 8 metres across, with a pillar-like boulder protruding from the middle. On that pillar, the markings were so dense, it appeared as just one solid bar of light. Dipper breathed heavily. He needed to get closer.

Tentatively, he stepped forward onto the frozen surface. The ice groaned under his feet, but held. He took another step. And another. Though the ice cracked under his feet slightly, it held true nonetheless. Though it was mere seconds, the trek to the core seemed to take years.

It was with a relieved sigh that he new took in the pillar, it was no more than six feet tall, and almost half a metre around. He reached out with his left hand, tracing one of the lines.

All at once, the ground began to shake beneath Dipper's feet, breaking him from his daze. The ice began to crack and crumble. Soon enough, he found himself losing balance, falling. He windmilled his arms in a futile attempt to regain his balance. One of his hands caught the hexagonal edge of the core, by instinct wrapping himself around it like a sloth. It was only at this point that he realized that said pillar was sinking into the black, freezing water below.

His eyes went wide, doing his best despite his noodliness to shuffle and scurry his way up the pillar. His arms ached as he finally reached the lip of the top, and pulled himself up in one final heave.

With a final rumble, the ground seemed to set, and once again, silence filled the air once again. He breathed heavily, clinging to the stone.

 _I really need to work out,_ He thought to himself.

Now atop the strange structure, Dipper leaned closer, taking a closer look. The hexagonal face of the pillar was smooth, besides for the tight knit runes and an indentation just smaller than his fist. He traced his fingers along the outline. He paused. It seemed too simple. Reaching into his pocket, Dipper withdrew the Frost Stone. Really.

As he was about to place the stone into the socket, something caught Dipper's attention. It was.. well, a smell. In the air, something rancid permeated his nose. Like three year old milk and a high school locker room. He looked up, only to lock eyes with a pair of Large, brilliant amber ones.

There, standing in front of Dipper was a beast. No- a giant. It stood at least 15 feet tall, covered head to toe in white fur. It was massive, muscular, and was no doubt the source of the offending odor- based on the yellowish tint to it's coat. It snorted once, it's hair covered face glaring down at Dipper. It looked from the stone in his hand, to the Pillar, to him and back again. From the shore of the small pond, it reached out, towards him.

Dipper gulped, standing. With no other option than this, he leapt off the opposite side into the frigid water. He fled as fast as his legs could carry him, now drenching wet and with the sound of a now furious snow monster on his tail. Into the woods and towards what he hoped was civilisation.

In the back of his mind, the stupid rebellious part couldn't help but ask:

 _Could this day get any worse?_

 **Author's Note:** **So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I promise it will all tie into the fluffiness, but this was already taking long enough to write, and thought you guys would prefer more frequent updates over just one big dump :P I know there are probably SO many grammatical mistakes, please feel free to let me know if you spot one! Sorry about the delay in getting this chapter out by the way! It took a little while to figure out how I wanted this to go, and then I rewrote it a bajillion times. Please leave a review on what you like or don't! See you next Time! -Taelor**


	4. Chapter 4

**Oh my god, I'm so sorry for all of the delays on this chapter..I know no excuses such as life can make it up, so here you are, the next installment of Christmas Cheer and Cinnamon Spice. Hope you enjoy! (Alex Hirsch still won't give me the rights of Gravity Falls.. Bummer. I even offered him $0.25 this time!) As always, reviews are appreciated, whether positive or negative~**

 _Thump thump thump._

The sound of footfalls was all Dipper could hear, the pounding of those massive feet behind him. He pushed himself harder, his legs burning. There was just no way he could outrun this thing. No word in any of the Journals about a Yeti. He yelled out in frustration as he ran.

That's when it hit him.

Out of nowhere came an immense impact, knocking him into the air. Any breath he still had, well, he'd lost it now. He looked up at what should have been up. But from where he was, it looked as though sky was growing a beautiful snowy woodland.

Looking actually up, he glanced above him. Leathery wings, hooked talons, Yellow eyes. Of course. He knew this creature, not personally, but he'd read all about it. A vampire bat. A very, very big vampire bat.

"You.. Have got to be KIDDING ME!" He yelled, as he was carried away by the beast.

*far away, in the Not-So-Manor Manor of the NorthWests*

Pacifica looked up from her game of chess against herself, her phone ringing catching her attention. She looked at the display, a number she didn't recognize glaring back at her.

On a whim, she picked up the phone.

"Hello?" She said

"AGHHHHH" replied a familiar voice.

"Dipper?! What's going on, are you okay?" she frantically asked.

The line went quiet. "Yes," another pause. "No, not really."

"What do you mean, 'not really'?" she prodded.

"Well, um," she heard an angry screech in the background, "I may or may not have went back into the woods, finding a place of eternal winter that led to me trying to put a stone in a thingy that made me get chased by a yeti but since my bad luck is bad, on the way of away from said Yeti I was picked up by a.. Bat." he breathed. "Pretty sure a giant vampire bat."

She blinked. "So um, where are you right now?"

"About 400 feet above the ground, I think it's heading for town." he audibly gulped, "Sorry I called you like this, nobody else was picking up.."

"Hang on" she said,

"Do I really have much of a choice?" he replied.

She walked to the window, opening her curtain. Their new home, while still prime real estate lacked the view that she had on the hill, but it would have to do. She scanned the sky for any sign of him. There, just at the south side of town. A big. Very big black shadow was crossing the sky.

She sighed. "You know, you really have a way of drawing trouble to you, you know that?"

"Yeah, yeah. You know, this makes no sense."

"I know."

"Not just the situation Pacifica, but this shouldn't be happening. From what I read, giant vampire bats are peaceful. So why'd it grab me? Something isn't right. Hang on, we're landing"

The line went quiet, save for the rush of wind coming from the other side.

"OH." was all he said before the line went dead.

She blinked. Again.

Pulling her phone away from her head, she looked towards where she had last seen the bat. Why. Why was her only question. Why did she have to get roped into all the weirdness? She argued with herself morally. To help on not to help, twas the question of the night. She gritted her teeth, fighting the urge to just stay where she was, and grabbed a backpack.

"Stupid. Idiotic. Overzealous. Foolish. Dumb. Dipper. Fucking. Pines!" she yelled, grabbing a flashlight, water bottle, taser, and spare pair of clothes.

She grumbled, throwing on a wool jacket and her pine tree cap as she walked out the door.

Her mother caught her in the hallway. "Where're you off to dear?"

"Um.. Work?" While she may have changed, her mother had a far way to go.

"Alright dear," Her mother said, "Just as long as you aren't running off to try to foolishly save your friends or anything!"

"...Right.." she replied, heading out the front door.

She shivered as she closed the door behind her, not from the cold but from the trickle of fear down her spine. Sometimes she worried her mother was a soothsayer or something..

She huffed, beginning her trek across town. It was a chilly day, and a breeze had picked up.

 _When I find that stupid boy,_ she thought, _I swear to god I will make him PAY for making me freeze my butt off in this cold._

As she grumbled, her foot slipped on a patch of ice, and in a very charlie brownish fall, she tumbled to the ground.

"You," She said, gritting her teeth as she stood up, "Have got to be kidding me!"

As she was standing, something in the bushes caught her eye. She walked over, careful not to slip on the ice again. Her fingers brushed the soft violet cloth of the scarf she'd given to Dipper. She flushed slightly, remembering that day.

Dipper! She snapped back to reality, grabbing the scarf.

 _If this is here,_ She reasoned, _Then there is a good chance he is in the area._

She looked around and sighed. The part of town she was in filled with older houses, almost all of them abandoned and rundown. He could be anywhere. She walked towards one of the homes, which stood out as the dingiest to her.

 _Bad guys always have either the ugliest or the best place, and as we aren't at my old manor, this'll have to be it._ She reasoned.

The home she approached was two stories, with chipped maroon paint, shattered windows, and caved in roof. It seems her luck was better than Dipper's, since the front door appeared to be in no less than twenty pieces littering the porch.

She walked in, wrinkling her nose at the scent of guano permeating the house. Reaching into her bag, she fumbled for the flashlight she'd brought. Flicking on the light, she looked around the grimy hallway. The house, appearing to be based on old gothic architecture, groaned in response to the unwarranted entry. She moved forward, inch by inch, foot by foot.

Pacifica looked up at the caved in ceiling as she entered what may have once been a living room. The hole, it appeared, went straight through the structure home, straight down to the basement. Peering down at the hole, measuring about 15 feet across if she had to guess, she could see rubble from the upper floors but nothing else.

"Oh, just couldn't be captured and taken to a warm cafe, noooo. He just had to be taken down into a creepy old basement, didn't he?" She muttered angrily, shivering all the while

As carefully as she could, Pacifica Started sliding herself into the maw of the home, holding on to what remained of the floor. As she was halfway over the ledge, the board she was holding groaned in protest. She tensed, ready to be dropped into the darkness. As everything seemed to settle again, a sigh of relief escaped her lungs. That sigh quickly turned to a scream as the board gave way.

While willing to crawl down, Pacifica was no fan of falling into the abyss. The soul tearing scream that gave way was cut short though as her six foot fall came to an end. She landed on her back, groaning slightly.

Wincing, Pacifica rose to her feet. Now with scraped hands and bloodied elbows, she picked up her bag and flashlight. Even in this scenario, she couldn't help but smile that the light hadn't broken in the fall. She quickly scanned the room around her. It was small, circular in shape, with a ripped apart wall where she assumed a door must have stood. Carefully, she took a step forward when a sound stopped her in her tracks.

"Rrrrriipp"

A blast of cold air on her back caught her attention. She reached behind her, fumbling with the coat, to feel a gaping hole in the back. Pacifica's eyes blazed with anger. First the cold, then the creepy house, now her clothes- She let out an angry yell. She shrugged off her coat, no longer giving a damn about the cold.

 _Dipper better hope he's dead before I get there,_ She thought, striding forward into the tunnel, _cuz when I get my hands on him I'm gonna tear him to pieces!_

The tunnel ran downward, from the concrete to a now earthy surface for a ways, the ground itself was torn,

 _As if by claws,_ She thought, shuddering at the idea of a giant Bat/badger hybrid digging out this hole.

It wasn't long after her revelation with the claw marks that the tunnel began to open up into a cave, with high ceilings, and walls that were at least 100 feet across. It appeared mostly empty, from what her meager flashlight could see, the shadows cast made it difficult to tell. She swallowed nervously.

"Dipper?" she whispered first, "DIPPER?!" yelling the latter.

"Pacifica?" She heard a reply. With the echo of the caves, she couldn't figure out where he was. She stepped forward, only to recoil when one of her shoes sank into a layer of guano.

"Ugh! Where are you? I can't see you!" she yelled, irate.

It was the simultaneous yell of "Look UP!" from Dipper, along with his beanie falling on her head that drew the blond's flashlight beam upwards, connecting with a form of Dipper Pines. Dipper was hanging from the ceiling by some sort of web, completely covered except his head. The expression he wore could only be described as annoyed.

Pacifica looked up at him, confusion and annoyance fighting for dominance on her face.

"Wait-" she pondered, "If you were attacked by a bat, why are you covered in webs?"

"While I would love to tell you all about it, it may take some time. Could you first get me down please?" He asked, annoyance edging into his voice.

"Sure, she grumbled, looking up at him, "just one more question. As you are currently hanging upside down about 20 feet above my head, how exactly do you propose I get you down?"

There was only silence and a vexed face to meet her question.

She sighed, glancing around. Her eyes landed upon a small mound of rocks off a small ways. A smile creeped on her face as she walked towards them.

It was soon after that rocks were flying up at the ceiling.

"Stop!" Yelled Dipper, "you're gonna hit me!"

"I'm. Just. Trying. To. Break. The. Web!" She called, rock after rock impacting above her.

Even with the squealing of Dipper, and her lack of accuracy, her rocks finally snapped the thread holding Dipper to the ceiling. She grinned at her own success, until she realized that Dipper was about to fall twenty feet onto stone. She yelped, diving forward.

With a resounding thud and a groan escaping the two teens, Dipper landed safe and sound on top of Pacifica's prone and now bruised form.

"Ouch!" she grumbled, "why'd you go and land on me?!"

"Well sorry, I was having rocks chucked at me" he retorted sharply.

"Whatever, just get off me and let's get out of here."

"Right" Dipper rolled off her, still bound by the webbing.

She sat up, delicately rubbing wrist. A glare was shot in Dipper's direction.

"If I sprained something I am soooo suing you" she muttered, Reaching down and tugging at his bindings, "Ugh, and this crap is sticky!"

He sighed, looking up at her while she worked, "Well, yeah, um, it's web, y'know? Web is sticky, so it can catch prey and whatnot."

"Well that makes things more difficult," she humphed, "Do you have like, a knife or something?"

"Yeah, in my back pocket. The right one."

She looked down at the entangled boy.

"Well," she grumbled, "Isn't that great. Your knife, which I need to chop the web, is in your pants, which is beneath the web. Just DANDY"

Handful by sticky handful, Pacifica tore into the webbing, until she had clear access to his back pocket. After some embarrassed mutterings from the pair and more struggling, she relieved the small pocket knife from him, opening the blade. It was quick work afterwards to cautiously slice dipper out of the web.

He stood up, stray pieces of web clinging to his clothes. A slight pink tinge hinted his cheeks as he took his knife back from her.

"..Thanks a ton"

"Er- yeah, no problem.." she mumbled in response.

"So, um, we should probably leave before they come back. Do you know the way?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah, just, follow me I guess.."

The two started walking back up the earthy tunnel, Dipper glancing behind them nervously every few seconds.

"So how exactly did you get stuck to the ceiling? I thought you said you were brought here by a bat." She asked, trying her best to keep a nonchalant tone.

"Oh, it really is quite interesting, " Dipper replied, "You see, I never actually thought interspecies pairs could happen, but then again, this is gravity f-"

"Okay, okay. Save me the nerd talk. Just what happened?" she snapped.

He glared at her, "well, it looks like a giant vampire bat and a giant spider have decided to become a pair. No. I'm not joking."

She blinked in shock.

"And I believe they intended for me to be a snack," he continued, "to celebrate they're unification or something."

"Oh" was her only reply.

The rest of the trip back into the basement was in amiable silence, neither wishing to break the quiet. Dipper couldn't help but gape at the rough cut hole. He'd been flown down through it, but still.

"You climbed down that?" he asked incredulously, eyeing the jagged edges of rim.

"Fell," she corrected, shooting a pointed glare in his direction, "I fell."

"Well, I doubt we will be able to climb out the way you- erm, fell, in. We should probably try to find the stair leading out or a ladder or something."

She looked at him incredulously. "Well duh"

He rolled his eyes in response, scanning the rubble before him. A slight glimmer off to one side caught his eye. Walking over to the object, yanking at the small handle, what appeared to be the handlbars to a bike came out, the pile shuddering under the change. His eyes bore into the pile, quickly finding his mark. Pulling out a piece of rope, no longer than five feet. Tying the rope to the handle, a smirk lit up his face.

"So what exactly are you making?" Pacifica asked, an eyebrow quirking upward sharply.

"Well," he breathed, "If you must ask," he climbed a little higher on the pile, "I, am making," he threw the bike handle upwards, it lodging into some of the rough timber, "a grappling hook." he said with finality.

A smile crossed her lips, "Well, I guess no one would be right to call you stupid, would they?"

He flushed at the compliment, and tried to slide down the pile, toppling at the bottom in a heap.

"Or graceful." She finished.

He quickly righted himself, an embarrassed flush burning at his cheeks.

"Anyways," he coughed, "That should hold for now. So go ahead and climb up whenever you're ready"

She glanced over at him. "Why aren't you going first?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Ladies first?" _And in case it doesn't hold, someone can catch you_ He thought privately.

She sighed and grabbed the rope, giving it an experimental tug. At it's holding, she started climbing up, grunting and pulling. Dipper positioned himself beneath her, _Just in case,_ he thought.

With a final "Oomph" Pacifica pulled herself over the edge, breathing heavily. It was soon that she righted herself though, glancing down at a Dipper, face red with exertion as he pulled himself up. He was almost there and stalled, struggling for the last pull up.

She leaned over the edge, offering her arm.

"Need a hand?"

Gratefully, he took it, and with her help, cleared the edge. He breathed heavily.

"Thanks.."

"No problem. Though let's get a move on, I won't feel safe until we are within closed doors." she muttered, breathing heavily.

He rolled his eyes. "Your place or the Shack?"

"My place. Definitely mine." she wrinkled her nose, and stood up, offering a hand to Dipper.

With that, the two walked out of the house at a quick pace, heading for the Northwest Home.


End file.
